A marble plaque that weeps twice a year, exceptional scuba diving among the mosaics and temples of an ancient Roman city, a magnificent amphitheatre full of stone spectators, forgotten pagan traditions, the world’s largest censer, a sublime secret library hidden in a monastery, traces of the beating wings of the Archangel Michael, flagellation in a remarkable penitential rite, pitchers from the Wedding at Cana in an obscure sanctuary, stunning little-known frescoes …

The Campania region, far from the crowds and clichés, has one of the richest cultural heritages in Italy. Whether on the Amalfi Coast, at Pompeii, in the Cilento, at Benevento, or Caserta, or just in the area around Naples, its hidden treasures are revealed only to locals and to travellers who know how to leave the beaten path far behind.

An indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Campania well or who would like to discover other facets of this fascinating region.

The authors:

Maria Franchini – guide and lecturer on the monuments of Campania for fifteen years, was born in Naples. A journalist and the author of several books, she is passionate about Neapolitan culture and is also a specialist in Roman civilisation. She works for the Italian Cultural Centre in Paris, where she runs courses in the Neapolitan language, gives lectures and organises seminars on her favourite subjects. Maria is also co-author of the Jonglez guide Secret Naples.
http://www.sgdl-auteurs.org/maria-franchini/index.php/

Valerio Ceva Grimaldi Pisanelli di Pietracatella, 38, belongs to an old noble Neapolitan family. A journalist by profession, he worked on the staff of the governor of the Province of Naples, Professor Amato Lamberti, then for the Assessorato all’Ambiente del Comune di Napoli. He also spent two years with Rai TV’s Gap programme. He was editor-in-chief of the newspaper Notizie Verdi and deputy editor of Terra, the first environmental daily with a wide distribution. He has published numerous articles and surveys on the City of Naples. If you would like to visit some of the places in the guide, accompanied by the author, email him at: cevagrimaldi@gmail.com

A captain who lived on the wreck of the Kakapo for three years; Table Mountain’s most exclusive hiking; a restaurant in a maximum security prison; the arboreal evidence of apartheid’s earliest manifestation; a woman disguised as a male doctor for 56 years; a beach on top of Table Mountain; a fascinating secret collection of vintage and classic cars; a magical tree renowned for its spiritual healing properties; a heated pool on a military base that’s open to the public; a secret night-time nature tour; a hamster wheel for humans . . .

Far from the crowds and the usual clichés, Cape Town is a reserve of well-concealed treasures, revealed only to those residents or visitors prepared to wander off the beaten track.

An indispensable guide for those who think they know Cape Town well and those who would like to discover the hidden face of the city.

A riding school, where there were formerly airships, giant whales’ skeletons in a parking lot, a bunker hidden under a school, an elevator that never stops, an infinity system of tunnels under a hospital, amazing secret museums, unknown architectural gems, hidden gardens …

Whether you are living in Copenhagen or just visiting, the city offers a surprising wealth of sights away from the popular tourist tracks and all the clichés. This book is a must for those who think to know Copenhagen and for those who just wanted to explore the city from one second perspective.

Johanne Steenstrup (b. 1968). Anthropologist and curator. For many years employed with museum education at the royal palaces and gardens. Today with the Danish National Museum working on its visitor programmes.

Klaus Dahl (b. 1972). Art historian. Since 2003 employed as registrar and curator with the decorative arts collections at the royal palaces.

Discover the inner sanctum of Freemason’s Hall, see Napoleon’s toothbrush, marvel at a hoax plaque hidden in plain sight on O’Connell Bridge, try George IV’s footprints for size, venture into a Georgian time capsule on Henrietta Street, cross the bridge beneath which William Rowan Hamilton had his ‘Eureka’ moment, explore a ‘museum’ flat preserved exactly as it was almost 100 years ago, tune into the world of vintage radio in a Martello Tower, spot Dublin’s subterranean river, or post your thoughts in a mystery letterbox.

Dublin offers endless opportunities for getting off the tourist grid – for peering into the city’s fascinating past and present. All you need to know is where to look… and who to ask for. Secret Dublin – An Unusual Guide is an indispensable resource for those who thought they knew everything about the city, or who want to discover its hidden treasures.

Discover hidden gardens and clandestine art that even the neighbours overlook, visit the strangest of museums, get water-boarded in a prototype Jacuzzi and traumatised by Rabelaisian rafters, decrypt mysterious Masonic markings, step inside an Icelandic lava grotto, travel to the Wild West of Morningside, learn the secrets of Mrs Coade’s stone, sniff out the dogs more dazzling than Greyfriars Bobbie, track down traces of Edinburgh’s Great Exhibition…

Far from the tourist traps and the crowded landmarks, you may have thought Edinburgh had no more to reveal, but the city still keeps many treasures hidden away in the most unexpected of places. An indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Edinburgh well, or who would like to explore the curiosities of this most secretive of cities.

« Most visitors only scratch the surface of the cities they visit. Most residents accidentally take for granted the places they live. This book delves deep into Edinburgh’s rich history and the stories its special places tell, nudging its reader to find delight in the esoteric details, and to go and explore our wonderful and beautiful city with fresh eyes, a spring in the step and song in the soul. »
Adam Wilkinson, Director of Edinburgh World Heritage

Visit a church in a prison, learn how Florence became the centre of hermetism during the Renaissance and where you can still find traces of it today, escape from the crowds of tourists to visit little-known artistic masterpieces, head off to hunt for the 34 plaques displaying quotes from the “Divine Comedy”, fill up your tank at a vintage service station, have your children count the number of bees sculpted on the monument to the glory of Ferdinand I, look for the last wine distributors of the Renaissance, notice the minuscule windows designed to let children look out quietly onto the street, visit superb private gardens that even the Florentines don’t know about, learn how the purple colour of the Fiorentina football team is connected to the pee of a Florentine crusader in Palestine . . .
Far from the crowds and usual clichés, Florence holds many well-hidden treasures that are revealed only to the city’s inhabitants or travellers who know how to step off the beaten track. An essential guide for those who think they know Florence well or for those looking to discover the hidden side of the city.

A game of pétanque played with square boules, an astonishing aerial well, stained-plastic windows, a marble bench built in memory of the Queen of England’s haemophiliac son, the instruments of the Passion of Christ, a cannon that fires cherry stones, a good-luck pig, a mysterious pyramid, a monument to secret agents, an entire village that “moved house”, a gas mask for horses, a statue sculpted by Saint Luke, a chapel showing the dead rising from their tombs, a trapdoor in the nave of a church that opens onto a rushing torrent, a restaurant in an Orient Express railway car, Babar’s beach, Tintin’s Black Island, and Sleeping Beauty’s chateau, a chance to admire the Riviera’s first pair of naked breasts, or spend the night sleeping in a tree…
The French Riviera is not limited to the clichés of its beaches, private yachts, and luxury hotels.
For those who know how to leave behind the beaten paths, the Riviera is full of surprising details and curious sights. It will even amaze its inhabitants as well as visitors who think they know it well.

Head off to discover hidden tunnels and a bomb shelter beneath the Old City, follow a secret passage open once a year, admire the cathedral’s Orpheus capital, pray at Calvin’s fake grave, look for the plaque that compares the pope with the Antichrist, visit the secret gardens of the Carouge district, discover why the national monument represents two Savoyard women, learn where Frankenstein was created, sleep in Professor Calculus’ room, and more.

Far from the crowds and clichés, Geneva holds well-hidden treasures that are only revealed to residents and travelers who know how to wander off the beaten track. An indispensable guide for those who think they know Geneva well or who want to discover the hidden side of the city.

A horse’s tomb that has become a place of pilgrimage, a tree held up by a pillar in the garden of a Sufi convent that would herald the end of the world if it fell down, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s glass, a carpet that predicts the end of the Ottoman empire, fragments from the Black Stone of Mecca, the covering of a fountain from Pearl Harbor in the Pacific, a church under the protection of Muhammad, a synagogue that was a landmark for Ashkenazi Jews, a garment worn by the Prophet that was inadvertently ironed, a handful of hot ash that saved the Ottoman empire.

Far from the crowds and the usual clichés, Istanbul is still a reserve of well-concealed treasures only revealed to those who know how to wander off the beaten track, whether residents or visitors.

An indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Istanbul well, or who would like to discover the hidden face of the city.

The magnetic pull of a rock which is so strong that a coin sticks, a Miniature Railway track, a lighthouse in the sky, get Married in a Boeing 747, the very first example of “Victoria’s Secret”, a fantastic private garden open one day per year and whose address is given by request only, a very surprising fine dining home restaurant in Alex, fly over the city in a plane that served for WWII in Egypt, South Africa’s oldest monument, a waterfall in the concrete jungle, a fantastic private art collection that can be visited by appointment, the private home of one of South Africa’s most prolific and famous artists of the 20th Century….

Far from the crowds and the usual clichés, Johannesburg is still a reserve of well-concealed treasures that only reveal themselves to those who know how to wander off the beaten track, whether residents or visitors.

An indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Johannesburg well, or who would like to discover the hidden face of the city.

Lisa Johnston is a writer and photographer who was born and grew up in Johannesburg. She has worked variously as a travel, design and art journalist and is drawn to the unique creative pulse of the city and its people.

Claire Bell grew up on Johannesburg’s East Rand, and fell in love with the city at the age of 5, when she first caught a train downtown. A journalist and investigative researcher, she has a masters degree in philosophy from Birkbeck College in London and writes the blog UnpopularEssays.com.